diff --git a/lms/djangoapps/discussion/rest_api/tests/test_views.py b/lms/djangoapps/discussion/rest_api/tests/test_views.py
index a619d93999..fe770a8b9d 100644
--- a/lms/djangoapps/discussion/rest_api/tests/test_views.py
+++ b/lms/djangoapps/discussion/rest_api/tests/test_views.py
@@ -193,7 +193,7 @@ class RetireViewTest(DiscussionAPIViewTestMixin, ModuleStoreTestCase):
         self.assertEqual(response.status_code, expected_status)
 
         if expected_content:
-            self.assertEqual(text_type(response.content), expected_content)
+            self.assertEqual(response.content.decode('utf-8'), expected_content)
 
     def build_jwt_headers(self, user):
         """